Personal Layers
by FollowGibbs'Rules
Summary: A young girl witnesses the end of a murder. With the girl's mother missing, she finds ways to amuse herself while staying at the NCIS headquarters.
1. Prologue

Prologue-

A young girl, about fourteen, sat in her bed with her radio playing "How do you like me now?" by Toby Keith. She sang along quietly. A silvery white husky with a light brown backing and circles around his eyes laid at her feet with his head in between his paws. His eyes were slowly closing when a knock came at the door. His eyes shot open and his head came up to look at where the noise had come from. The girl didn't move at all, not caring about the knock.

A woman's voice called from the other side of the door. "Shut the radio off! It is loud and obnoxious! Go do something useful!"

The girl grumbled and turned the radio down a little. It had gone to commercial anyway.

The voice called again. "Thank you." It said, but obviously didn't mean it. "I'm going out for most of the night, don't leave the house. Got it Kate?"

The girl, apparently named Kate, answered quietly, "Yeah got it, bye." She muttered, barely hearing what the woman had to say.

Little clicks of heels against the hard wood floor of the hallway outside Kate's bedroom indicated that the woman was gone. The sound of a car starting up and silently fading indicated that the woman was gone, possibly until the next afternoon.

Kate sat up, turning the radio completely off as she watched the woman's car's head lights disappear. She turned to the husky and scratched him behind the ear. "Come on, time to explore the woods." She said excitedly. Glad she was on the first floor; she opened her window and crept through it. The husky leaped through it moments later and barked happily. Kate put a hand on his muzzle to silence him then ran off for the woods behind her house. Soon the two came to the edge of a clearing and sat down by a tree to catch their breath. A moment later there was a loud shouting and scream of pain. The husky perked his ears and ran towards it, fighting all instincts to howl at the smell of blood.

Kate followed, trying to be silent. She crouched beside some bushes and looked at the far corner of the clearing, straining her eyes to see in the dark forest. She could just barely make out a man lying on the ground, his chest dark with a liquid-like substance.

Her husky growled softly beside her, his eyes trained on another shadowy figure running off into the woods with two objects in his hands, what looked like a stick, and a knife. Curious to what was going on, Kate crept forward to the man lying on the ground. She trusted her dog to tell her if the other man was coming back, but the brown husky stayed silent.

From what she could tell of the man on the ground, was that he was in a light brown suit with blood pooling around his stomach, not breathing. She searched him over and her eyes stopped on his decorations. From which, she figured out what he was. Scared, she backed away slowly from the dead body then raced back to her house.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

A tall guy with medium brown hair walked out of an elevator with a slim, dark browned hair woman walking beside him. They walked into a large room with stained orange walls and a skylight that covered the whole roof. The woman was clearly annoyed at what the guy as saying.

"All I'm saying…" The guy started. "Is that there should have been a sequel to Love Jones..."

"Tony," The woman said irritably. "It was a terrible movie and they get together, why should there be a sequel?"

The guy, Tony, shrugged, "I don't know, maybe they could start a family…" He started rambling about dumb possibilities.

The woman cut him off when they reached her desk, "If I say yes," She let out an exasperated sigh. "Will you shut up?" She asked, trying to sound nice although it didn't work at all.

"Sure Ziva." He shrugged again and looked at his desk where a fourteen year old girl with brown-blonde hair was sitting with her feet up on the desk and headphones in her ears. Tony looked at her curiously then whispered to Ziva, "Who's that?"

Ziva cast a glance over to the girl and shrugged, not caring who she was. She started putting her stuff away while answering, "How should I know? I have been here as long as you have."

Tony kept staring at the young girl. "What do you think she's listening to?"

"I do not know Tony, go ask her." Ziva said with a little sarcasm and sat down eventually.

Tony sensed her sarcasm and frowned. "Well she shouldn't be at my desk. I don't know who told her to be there, but when Gibbs finds out…" He grinned at what he thought his leader would do to her.

"Well he probably wouldn't care." The girl spoke suddenly. "Seeing as he told me to sit here." She smirked softly.

Tony jumped a little when she spoke. "How long have you been able to hear us?" He asked.

You. How long has she been able to hear you? Ziva thought grimly. She tapped on some keys on her keyboard, pretending she was busy.

The girl shrugged, "Not long, just from the time where you left the elevator and walked over here…"

"Well, who are you?" Tony asked bluntly.

Way to be subtle. Ziva rolled her eyes when her co-worker asked the girl that.

"I am Kate," The girl said. "And you are agents DiNozzo and David, I'm presuming?"

"Special agents." Tony corrected her and looked her over. He gulped a little, remembering his past partner Kate. He looked at Ziva, remembering her half brother was who had killed her.

"Whatever." Kate muttered.

Tony sneered a little. Well she doesn't seem like Kate. He thought and stopped sneering when he saw a man with silvery gray hair, named Leroy Jethro Gibbs, walking towards them, coffee in hand. "Morning Boss." He said when the man came close enough, though he was staring at Kate warily.

The 'boss' looked from Tony to Kate then back to Tony. A small smile crept up on his face. "Morning DiNozzo, I see you've met Kate." He walked over to his desk.

Tony nodded, "Yeah…why exactly is she at my desk?" He asked, not caring if he sounded rude.

Kate answered before the other man could. "Because, he told me to sit somewhere so I looked around and," She waved her hand at Ziva's desk. "That one I saw belonged to a girl, so I thought I should stay away from her stuff." She thrust a thumb in the direction of another desk diagonal to Ziva's. "That has a lot of electronics, probably belongs to a computer geek." Tony held back a laugh. Gibbs smiled a little at what Kate said. Kate didn't notice them and continued. She pointed to Gibbs. "That one is the biggest, made for the leader. And this one has toys for kids. So I chose to sit here." She smirked.

Tony glared at her, "Those toys are not for kids!" He exclaimed. Kate and Ziva laughed at that outburst.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "Ah, DiNozzo, let it go." He said with a slight smile. "Come on, Ducky has something."

Ziva stood up immediately. "There was a body?" She asked, confused.

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah, why do you think she's here? Now come on." He gestured to the far elevator and started walking to it. Ziva followed.

DiNozzo hastily walked towards his desk and put his stuff down. "Don't you dare go through it." He warned Kate.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't dream of it." With that, Tony trotted up to catch the elevator before it closed. He squeezed through the doors and they shut with a ding then jerked downwards to go to autopsy.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

The team of three walked into a dark, mostly metal room, where an old English man in light blue scrubs was hunched over the dead body of a young male. The body had a deep gash just above the belly button; otherwise, the body was completely clean. The English man took a ruler out of the man's gash and studied it, casting a glance at the three who walked into his lab. "Why hello there Jethro." He said and put the ruler away in the sink by the door where the team just walked in.

"What'cha got Duck?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"Just getting to the point I see. Ah well, no point in wasting time. This young man may be dead…but that doesn't mean his life is over…" "Duck" said slowly and opened his mouth to continue.

The leader sighed, "Duck, today." He said impatiently.

"Right, sorry." Ducky stood by the man's body and looked at the three agents. "Cause of death was in fact the stab wound. Absolutely nothing was wrong with him, no diseases, scars, anything. Which is amazing but also very strange." He lifted up the man's hand.

Tony spoke up, "He has no defensive wounds…" Ducky nodded and opened his mouth to say something but Gibbs cut him off before he could. "He knew his attacker…well enough to let him close enough with a weapon. Do you know what type of knife he used?" The leader asked.

Ducky shook his head, "No, oddly, the wound was messed with so the blade was not easily known. But what I do know is that the blade was at least ten inches deep. That's a very large blade, which are usually used in the kitchen…" He said. "That reminds me of when I was a young lad; all we had to cut were butter knives because the usual kitchen knives were too expensive for my family…"

Gibbs headed for the door, not interested in Ducky's story, Tony and Ziva at his six. "Thanks Duck, that's good work."

Ducky watched them for a second, "Jethro, that's not all." He said before they left. The silver haired special agent stopped and looked back at the medical examiner. Ducky continued, "In the wound, I found traces of what looked like bark from a tree, or branch."

"Well yeah. He was found in the woods. So?" Gibbs walked back to the body slowly.

"The bark was embedded deep in the wound, which could not happen from drifting bark pieces." Ducky explained.

Gibbs nodded slowly, "Is that all?"

The M.E. nodded, "For now anyways."

"Okay, thanks Duck." The leader of the agents there headed back for the doors, and the elevator.

Ziva waved goodbye to Ducky before following Gibbs, Tony right beside her, looking a little troubled. Once all of them were in the elevator and the doors were closed, Tony asked his leader, "Where to now, Boss?"

"Abby. Let's see if she got something with that bark." Gibbs answered, taking a sip of his coffee. He wrinkled his nose in the distaste of old coffee, even if it was barely an hour old. When the elevator stop and the doors were open, the silver haired man stepped out and crossed the hallway into a three-sectioned lab. A woman in large black combat boot and black lacing up her legs and a black t-shirt with skull and crossbones on the front stood at a desk with several computers surrounding her. She looked back at them, sipping on a large Caf-Pow. She smiled and waved at them and the three agents crowded into her room.

"Hi guys!" The peppy Goth shouted to them over her music.

Tony grinned at her, "Hey Abby."

Ziva nodded a hello.

Gibbs winced a little at the loud music. "Turn it down!" He shouted at her.

Abby sighed and turned off the music. She turned to Gibbs. "So, I heard there's a girl involved with the case, and you can't find her mother. What's her name?" The Goth speed-talked.

"Is that why Kate is upstairs? Because we can't find her mother?" Tony questioned. So far, he didn't particularly like Kate, and her being at his desk made it worse.

"Her name is Kate?" Abby said in utter shock.

Gibbs ignored both of their questions. "What'cha got Abs?" He asked.

"Not a Caf-Pow." She said smugly as she gulped down the rest of the overly caffeinated drink.

The leader rolled his eyes, "Only if you got something." He stood beside her at the desk. His two agents stood behind him, Tony leaning on a table.

The Goth twirled around to face her computer and tapped on some keys on her keyboard. A chart of different elements came up. She read off several elements on the chart.

"Tree bark. Ducky found this in the wound, right?" Gibbs looked at the forensic scientist.

She nodded. "Yes, but not just any tree bark. I found traces of sap."

"Sap? From pine trees?" Gibbs pondered how that was possible with the closest pine trees miles away.

Tony asked, "How close from the murder was a pine tree?" For he had never been to the crime scene, which irritated him.

"Not close." Gibbs said quietly, busy with his thoughts. He headed for the door. "Nice work Abs."

Abby watched him go, frowning. She was mad at him for not getting a Caf-Pow.

Ziva noticed Abby's frown before she left. "Hey Abby." She pointed to a fridge along the far wall. Inside, was a large Caf-Pow.

Abby's eyes widened in shock, "No…but how..?" She began to question how it got there when she realized everyone was gone besides her.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

"Give me my pen back!" A young man with short brown hair shouted at a younger, brown-blonde haired girl. "Give me my pen Kate!" He demanded.

"I don't have it." Kate said calmly. She pushed her feet against the ground, moving the office chair around.

"Then where did it go?" He asked and Kate shrugged.

Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva walked over to the squad room from the elevator. They saw the man arguing with Kate so Tony shouted out to him, "What are you fussing McGee?"

McGee looked over at them and sighed, "I can't find my writing pen."

Tony let out a small huff of laughter, "You're freaking out because of a pen? Just get another one. I'm sure there's plenty just like it."

Ziva rolled her eyes at the two and walked over to her desk.

Gibbs sighed and stood by his desk.

"Yes, Tony, that's the only pen I use when I'm writing but not with my typewriter." He moved away from DiNozzo's desk to his, the one diagonal to Ziva's.

Tony scoffed at him. "It's a pen McWriter, get over it."

McGee glared at him briefly before turning to Gibbs, "I found something about the dead marine, Boss." He said and started typing on his keyboard when his leader motioned to the plasma screen monitor beside McGee's desk. A license plate of the dead man came up. McGee tapped on another key and the picture closed-up on the face. "He isn't a marine." He stated then continued when his co-workers gave him questioning stares. "Well, he is, but not a full one, he had just signed up to be part of the recruiting section."

"What's your point McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, all the decorations he had, it's impossible for him to have that many when he just started in the recruiting section." The computer geek said with a small smile, clearly excited that he found something interesting.

"Then how did he get the decorations?" Tony pondered out loud.

Gibbs was thinking hard, trying to put everything together. "Anything come back on her mother?" He motioned to Kate.

McGee shook his head, "Nothing. Sorry."

Gibbs sighed. He walked over to Kate, "Follow me." He motioned with his finger to follow him. He headed for the large staircase behind the squad room. The silver haired leader went behind the staircase to a secluded area. He turned to look at Kate. "What did your mother do for a living?"

Kate sighed; she hated talking about her mother. "Well she said that she was a dress designer and even had a sketch book full of dresses to prove it, but…well…she went on business trips, but I never saw her on television or in newspapers, or on the internet. So I think she was lying, and I haven't figured out her real job."

Gibbs nodded, "What did she say before she left?"

"Nothing just that she was going away for the night. I don't expect her to be back until tonight anyway."

"She does this often then? Just disappears and is unable to be contacted?" He asked bitterly.

Kate nodded, "Yeah, she can sometimes be contacted though. Only when she's hiding something does she become unreachable…"

Gibbs sighed, "Did you know a man named Ethan Lagneron?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Why? Is that the dead guy?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yes, Ethan Lagneron is the dead marine you found."

Kate frowned, trying to read the former marine's mind. "You don't think my mother's part of this do you?"


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

Tony sat at his desk, throwing paper wads at the trash can by McGee's desk, trying to get them in. He constantly missed. Kate watched him from Gibbs' desk, rolling her eyes at every shot he missed. On the occasion he did make one in, she would mutter, "Way to go, big shot, one outta one hundred." Tony glared at her each time and she smiled innocently back, each time. Eventually Tony gave up and checked the time on his computer. It read 9:30 p.m.

Kate had checked too but didn't seem bothered by it. "Where's Gibbs?" She asked and looked over at Tony, who shrugged and looked through his desk for something else to amuse himself with. Kate sighed and continued talking, "Well I don't suppose you guys are letting me go home with my mom gone?" Tony shook his head, too occupied with looking for toys to actually say anything. "Then where am I going to stay? Here?" Just before her last question Gibbs walked in.

"No, you're going to stay at an agent's house." The team leader said calmly and continued when she groaned a little, "For security reasons."

"Well who am I staying with?" The girl asked.

"Anyone you want, just not me." Gibbs motioned for her to get out of his way so he could go through his desk.

Kate pushed herself, in the office chair, backwards and out in front of his desk. "Why not?"

"I have to work. Your mother is still missing and there's a murderer out there." Gibbs said simply.

Ziva walked into the squad room with McGee. They had just come from Abby's lab. "Boss, Abby said that she found nothing at all. The crime scene was pristine along with the marine's clothing. No fingerprints, no DNA." She sat at her desk and McGee sat at his.

The boss sighed in frustration, "No sign of her mother either…" He grumbled.

"So…" Kate cut in, "I get to pick who I have to stay with for the night?" She asked awkwardly. Gibbs nodded and Kate looked around. She looked at Ziva, "Can I stay with you?"

Ziva shook her head a little. "Not unless you want to sleep on the floor of a cramped apartment.

The brown blonde girl winced a little. "Okay…Well I don't want to stay with McGee…"

"Why not?" The computer geek exclaimed.

"Well one, you still think I have your pen, I don't by the way. And, you're a little…geeky, old fashioned…weird…not my type, probably have a tiny apartment too. So…no thanks." She shrugged a little. "No offense…" Kate muttered, not fully meaning it.

McGee looked down at his desk, a little ashamed. "Oh…" Tony laughed a little at McGee until he realized that he was the last choice for Kate to stay with.

"No Boss, I-I can't!" He stuttered. "I have a date tonight! I already ordered the dinner for us, it's seriously expensive and…" Tony stopped talking when Gibbs glared at him.

"I don't care about your date DiNozzo. Cancel it; you're housing Kate for tonight."

Kate smirked at DiNozzo and he glared at her. Tony was tempted to throw a paper wad at her but refrained, considering his whole team was around.

~~~~In DiNozzo's apartment~~~~

Kate sat on a chair by a counter in the kitchen. She looked over at Tony silently. The senior field agent was lying on his couch, staring blankly at the television. She groaned loudly, bored out of her mind. Tony didn't hear her, not surprising either, for he was about to fall asleep. Kate pulled out her phone and dialed a number. Putting the phone to her ear, she waited for the person on the other side of the call to pick up.

"Hello?" A voice called from the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Ziva, can you come over? I'm bored and Tony's about to fall asleep." Kate asked. She turned to look at Tony when he mumbled something like, "I'm nah 'leep." Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he's asleep."

"Sure Kate, be there soon." The phone buzzed when Ziva hung up. Kate put her phone away and jumped to her feet. She walked over to Tony and shook him. "Tony, I'm hungry. When is that dinner coming?" Tony shrugged her off and turned his back to her. Kate groaned again. "Tony!" She flicked his ear. "Get up!" Tony sat up quickly, hitting his ear as he did. He glared at Kate.

"Fine, I'll go get it. But don't leave the apartment." The sleepy agent stood up and put on a jacket before heading for the door.

Kate smirked at him, "Get me an orange soda too, will ya?" She sat down on the couch, smiling. Tony rolled his eyes and walked out of the apartment, closing, and locking, the door behind him. Immediately, the girl got up and walked around the apartment, searching for something. After going through some drawers, she went to the door and unlocked it. Slowly the door opened, creaking ever slightly. The young girl sneaked out of the door, closing it tightly behind her, locking it with a spare key she found.

Tony came back about a half an hour later with a brown paper bag carrying several boxes of Italian food and an orange soda. He opened the door, whistling softly to himself. "Tony!" His head whipped around to see his co-worker, Ziva, standing by the door, her hands up. "Where is Kate? Why did you leave?" She sent a flurry of questions at the confused agent.

Tony put the food down and looked around. "She was here when I left to get the food." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

"She is not a little kid, Tony. She knows how to open a door and walk out." Ziva paced around the apartment. She looked at

Tony. "You have to call Gibbs. Tell him that she sneaked out."

"No way! He'll kill me for letting her leave! Why don't you call him?" Tony protested.

"Because you are the one who lost the girl! Now call him!" The Israeli agent said bitterly through gritted teeth. Why did she invite me over if she was going to leave? She looked over at Tony as he reluctantly took out his work phone.

Tony pressed a few buttons and put the phone to his ear, waiting for his boss to pick up.

Down in Gibbs' basement, a small wood shop with a few stools for people to sit on (Gibbs was sitting on one while another person occupied another); Gibbs picked up his phone and looked at who was calling. He rolled his eyes slightly, already figuring that person, Tony, would call. Instead of answering, the silver haired man handed the phone to a young girl sitting next to him and walked to the staircase, going upstairs to leave the girl to talk in peace with Tony.

"What do you want DiNozzo?" The girl asked, attempting a very bad Gibbs impersonation.

Not surprisingly, Tony didn't notice and started talking. "Gibbs…uh…well there's something I need to tell you…about Kate…she uh…"

He stuttered, not sure how to explain to Gibbs that Kate had disappeared.

Kate couldn't help but laugh, "You're so stupid Tony. I mean really, I don't even sound like Gibbs!"

Tony groaned, "Where the h*ll are you?" He grumbled into the phone.

Ziva stared at him, waiting for him to tell her something.

"At Gibbs' house." Kate answered simply.

"How did you get there?"

"While you were sleeping-" Kate started to explain but Tony cut in.

"I wasn't asleep!"

"Whatever!" Kate rolled her eyes. "I looked up where he lived and how much a cab would cost to get me there. So after you left I took some money I found and left to catch a cab. Then I came here and Gibbs let me in. Said he was done with work but I doubt he had any." She explained.

"Oh…wait. You stole my money?" Tony exclaimed.

Ziva rolled her eyes. "Get over it Tony. You left it lying around."

Tony glared at Ziva briefly. "Why did you invite Ziva over then?"

Kate smiled mischievously. She hung up without answering.

Tony looked at the phone curiously as the line went dead. "She's learning too much from Gibbs." He grumbled.

Ziva laughed a little. "Actually, I think she has a touch of you in her too." She looked around the apartment then headed for the door. "I guess I'll just go then."

Tony watched her for a moment then spoke up, "Hey Ziva. The Italian food is still fresh. You wanna…stay here for dinner maybe?" He asked slowly.

Ziva looked at him and smiled. "I would love to Tony."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

Tony sat at his desk, typing away at his keyboard. He kept glancing over at Gibbs' desk with an irritated look for Kate was sitting there, smiling at him. "What?" He finally snapped.

Kate shrugged casually and turned around in the chair. "Nothing."

Tony rolled his eyes and got back to work. The entrance elevator opened with a ding and Tony looked up to see who was coming out. He smiled a little to see Ziva but stopped when he saw Kate watching him, smiling widely.

Kate narrowed her eyes at Tony and looked from him to Ziva. She got up and walked over to Ziva. "Hey, sorry about ditching you last night, Tony just got really boring."

Ziva huffed. "I am sure you feel so bad about leaving me and Tony alone."

Kate laughed a little and shrugged. "Suit yourself." She slowly jogged back to Gibbs' desk and sat down.

Ziva sat down at her desk just as Gibbs walked in with a coffee. "What do we got?" He asked.

Tony immediately shot up to his feet. He grabbed the clicker to the plasma and pressed a button. "Ethan Lagneron, our dead marine recruiter, has a clear background. He went through school with no problems; he didn't do any sports, the low kid on the food chain though. Several reports that he was bullied, but they were just discarded. He started school in Fair field, Virginia in eighth grade, no trace of him before. It's weird…there is absolutely no mention of him before eighth grade. No birth certificate or anything to track him. It's like he just appeared at age fourteen." Tony explained what he found.

"Changed name." Kate muttered.

Gibbs looked over at her. "What?"

Kate looked up. "Huh? Isn't it obvious? He changed his name, the reason I don't know but if there's no record of his birth and he's real he's either a robot or he changed his name." She shrugged like it was no big deal and started playing with stuff on Gibbs desk.

Tony looked at her, a little surprised at her knowledge. "Well how are we supposed to know his first name?"

She shrugged. "Who cares? As far as you know he didn't have a purpose as his first name, only as his second. What you need to find is his parents. They changed it and you need to know why."

Ziva looked around the squad room. "She has a point."

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, she does. Now find his parents." He ordered.

Tony cut in, "I did; they're both dead. The father was unemployed, and the mother was in fashion design, but I didn't see any record of her over the internet."

Kate stopped what she was doing and looked up at Gibbs. He was staring back at her. They both had the same thought.

Ziva and Tony looked at the two curiously. Apparently Gibbs hadn't told them what Kate told him about her mother. "What?" Tony asked.

"Tony," Gibbs started. "Do you have a picture of Ethan's mother?" The senior field agent nodded and clicked a button the plasma clicker. The team leader looked at Kate expectantly.

"No, that's not her, but she could be a co-worker." Kate peered at the picture closely. "Now that I think of it, she looks familiar. I've definitely seen her talking to my mom…"

"Um …Boss?" Tony spoke up, wondering what they were talking about.

"You," He pointed to Kate. "Are going to Abby's lab."

Kate nodded and stood up without questioning him. She walked off to the far elevator and pressed the button to go down. The girl was gone within a few more seconds.

Tony waited until Kate was gone before speaking up. "So…" He didn't know exactly what to say.

"I want you two to go and search Ethan Lagneron's house." Gibbs ordered them.

"For what exactly?" Ziva asked, getting her stuff together.

"According to the records DiNozzo found, his address hasn't changed since he was a kid." Gibbs said.

"And you want us to find anything about his mother's supposed job that we have no record of." DiNozzo guessed and headed for the entrance elevator with his stuff. Ziva walked right beside him.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

Kate walked out of the elevator into Abby's lab. She looked around and saw Abby and McGee tapping on keyboards a few feet away.

Smirking, the young girl grabbed a cork cap near her and threw it at McGee. It hit the back of his head and she swiftly moved away from the door and hid behind the table so he didn't see her.

McGee winced a little and whipped his head around, "Ow, what was that?" He said out loud.

Abby looked at him, "What are you talking about McGee?"

"Something hit the back of my head." He turned his attention back to the computer, not seeing anything that could have thrown it.

Kate smiled and slid over to his side quietly. She looked at the computer; her face twisted into a confused expression. "What are you doing McGee?" She asked suddenly.

McGee jumped at her voice. He looked over at her. "What are you doing down here?" He asked quite loudly, obviously irritated at her sneaking up on him.

Kate took a step back away from him, "Gibbs told me to come down here…probably going to look stuff up about my mother, or doesn't want me looking through stuff." She shrugged and looked back at the computer.

Abby looked over at Kate. "You must be Kate!" She said excitedly. When Kate just nodded, she continued speaking. "I've heard so much about you! McGee says you're a lot like Tony."

Kate glared at McGee. "I am not!"

"Yes you are! You're snoopy and…" McGee searched for a nicer word than annoying.

The brown-blonde girl narrowed her eyes at him, guessing what he wanted to say. She looked at Abby. "Can I punch him?"

"No! McGee just doesn't understand!" Abby said in a high-pitched voice.

McGee rolled his eyes. "Why don't you go sit in there?" He told Kate, motioning to the room beyond the main lab.

Kate shrugged, "Because I don't wanna. But I guess I will, to get out of Abby's way." She skipped into the next room and sat down on an office chair that was at a desk with a few computers on it. She shifted around in the chair, uncomfortable. Something was poking into her so she looked through the chair and pulled out a pen. Laughing, Kate walked back to the main lab.

Abby and McGee looked over at her. "My pen!" McGee shouted and rushed towards Kate. He tried to grab it out of her hand but Kate pulled away.

"You only get it if you apologize." Kate smirked.

"For what?" He groaned.

"For yelling at me about stealing your pen!"

"No! For all I know you placed it there to find it."

Abby huffed from behind him. "McGee! You apologize to her right now!"

"I don't need to apologize to her at all!" He said defensively.

Abby looked at Kate. "You're allowed to punch him now."

Kate grinned widely and punched McGee's hard before he could defend himself.

"Ow! You punch as hard as Ziva." The agent rubbed his arm where she had punched him.

Abby smirked and punched his other arm for the fun of it. "Now apologize."

McGee shouted in pain again and looked at Kate, who was smiling smugly. "Sorry, Kate…"

"For…?" Abby and Kate said in unison.

The computer geek groaned. "For accusing you of stealing my writing pen." He muttered. The young girl smiled and held out his pen,

McGee snagged it from her hand immediately. "Now go back to the seat."

Kate laughed a little and sat down in the chair. She started playing games on the computer.

McGee turned around and came face to face with Abby. He took a step back when he noticed her glare. "What?" He exclaimed.

"Don't be mean to Kate, she's young and innocent."

"Innocent? Yeah right." He scoffed. "You have no idea what she's capable of."

"Oh, and you do?"

"Not me in particular, but she's tormented Tony a lot. At least that's what he tells me."

"Well Tony lies." Abby said simply and walked off to her computer.

McGee sighed and went back to work. Despite Abby siding with Kate, he was happy to have his writing pen back.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

Tony drove down a long driveway slowly. Ziva was sitting next to him in the passenger's seat, looking around to see if anyone was around. Tony slowed to a park and looked at the house in front of them. "Ethan Lagneron..." He breathed.

"Is not real." Ziva said.

"So let's go find out who he really was." He smiled at Ziva and got out of the car. His co-worker nodded and got out of the car too. They walked to the door together. "Open the door, little lock ninja." Tony told Ziva.

Ziva rolled her eyes and picked the front door's lock. She opened the door and walked in, looking around for anything suspicious.

After searching through several rooms for signs of life, she came back to the main one where Tony was after searching several rooms himself. "All clear, no one has been here for a while." The former Mossad agent said simply and got to work inspecting the house for anything that could help them with the case. She started working in the living room.

"Hey Ziva, I found something." DiNozzo called from a room over, the dining room. Ziva walked in the see what he had found. He was holding an old photo album and flipping through the pages.

"Is there anything useful in that?"

"Yes, there is Zee-vah." He flipped back a few pages. "Look." The page he turned to was labeled "New Talent"; it was a picture of a young girl that almost looked like Kate except with darker hair and an older woman standing right beside her. Tony pointed to the older woman. "That's Lagneron's mother. And that…looks like Kate, but a few years older…" He studied the younger woman's face.

"Could be her mother." Ziva suggested. She looked around the dining room for any other pictures.

"Maybe…You don't think Kate's mother disappearing and Lagneron's death are connected, do you?" Tony asked out loud, sounding a little worried.

"It could be possible." The Israeli agent walked back to her co-worker. "That looks like the only thing useful here, put it away and we can get back." She headed for the door. Tony joined her outside at the car after putting the photo album in his bag and closing it. They drove back to the headquarters and up to the squad room.

Kate was sitting at Tony's desk again because Gibbs was working at his own. McGee was at his desk, typing away at his keyboard.

Tony's gaze grazed over Kate and stopped at Gibbs. "Boss," He started, pulling the photo album out of his bag. "We found a photo album at Lagneron's house."

Gibbs nodded, "Any useful pictures?" The team leader looked up at Tony, who nodded and opened the book on Gibbs desk.

Tony flipped to the picture he had pointed out to Ziva. "Looks like Lagneron's mother." He said and glanced over at Kate.

Kate cocked her head when he looked at her and got up. She looked at the picture and looked over at Gibbs.

"You know who that is?" Gibbs asked.

Kate nodded. "My mother, when she was like seventeen. We, uh, have that picture at my house, along with a few others of her, the other mother." She stepped in front of Tony and flipped through more of the pages, pointing out several that were framed at her house. "I never really noticed them before, just figured they were family friends or something." Kate shrugged.

"Tony, Ziva, you're going on another field trip." The silver haired man stood up and grabbed the photo album.

"Where to now?" Tony asked.

Gibbs nodded to Kate. "Her house; and you're bringing her along with you."

"I get to go home?" Kate exclaimed, smiling.

Gibbs nodded again, "For now. Now get going." He waved them away and walked to the far elevator to go down to Abby's lab.

Tony went to his desk to get his stuff. He walked to the entrance elevator where Kate was standing in it, bouncing a little with excitement. Ziva was standing beside her. The elevator shut with a ding and off they were to Kate's house.

* * *

**Fixed the chapter. Sorry I didn't realize sooner.**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-

A sleek and clean black Dodge Charger raced down the street, dodging any cars in its way. The woman driving, ignoring all the honks of annoyed drivers. The man in the passenger's seat was clutching his armrest, trying to stay still despite the fast moving car. The girl in the seat behind the driver's was completely calm, playing games on her IPod casually. Briefly, she glanced up at the man in the passenger's seat. "Geez, Tony, she's not going _that_ fast." She muttered in a teasing tone.

Tony looked back and glared at her, "You realize she could make a wrong turn and we could crash any second, right Kate?" He spit out her name and looked over at the driver, who was smiling widely, about to laugh. "What are you smiling about?" He asked, frowning.

"Probably that you've been working together for six years and aren't used to her driving yet." Kate muttered from the back of the car. Tony shot her another glare, to which she smiled innocently.

The driver laughed a little, "Now that, is a good point Kate. But I was laughing at how calm you are compared to…" She tried to find the right words to describe Tony without being completely mean.

"The big, strong, never fearful special agent?" Kate said her description for her, in a very sarcastic tone. She and the driver laughed together.

"Alright, alright, shut it, will ya?" Tony said irritably and sat up straight, normally.

"Hey, look who's trying to get his dignity back." Kate laughed again. Tony rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the pestering teenager.

"Oh no, he lost that long ago." The woman smirked. "He's just upset that he's getting the taste of his own poison."

"Medicine." Tony and Kate said in unison. They shared a glance of surprise.

"Yeah, whatever. Although with you, Tony, it is more like poison." The driver exclaimed.

Tony fake chuckled, "Why thank you Ziva, I'm glad you enjoy me being tormented by a fourteen year old girl."

Kate shrugged, "I'm not tormenting you. I'm telling you the truth in an annoying way and constantly."

"That's tormenting." DiNozzo said almost immediately.

"You would know." Ziva muttered and ignored the glare from her co-worker.

"Hey Ziva," Kate started. "You passed my house." She said, not looking up from her IPod, so she really had no idea.

Ziva stopped the car abruptly anyway, not knowing the girl was kidding. Tony, caught completely unexpected, flew forward, hitting his head on the dashboard. Ziva looked at Tony and winced a little.

Kate looked up at Tony and laughed. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt." She looked around, outside the car. "I was kidding, we're here now."

"Oh, okay." Ziva laughed a little at what Kate had done and stepped out of the car. Kate did the same and headed for the front door of a little more than normal sized grayish-blue house. There was some barking from what sounded like two dogs coming from inside the house.

Tony, who had apparently recovered from banging his head on the dashboard, came up behind Kate. He was grinning at the barking. "Wow, McGee would have a field day." He joked.

Ziva rolled her eyes at him while Kate opened the door and walked in. A silvery white husky with a light brown backing and circles around his eyes and a black Rottweiler with the usual dark brown chest, muzzle, tail, and inner hind leg markings stood at the door, wagging their tails fiercely at the sight of Kate. The young girl smiled at her dogs, "Hey Muds." She scratched the Rottweiler behind the ear. "Hey Arcal." She ruffled the husky's fur.

"Arcal?" Tony looked at the husky curiously.

"Yes, Arcal, he reminded me of the Arctic Circle. Arc, from Arctic, and al from circle. Well, the sound from circle." She shrugged. "He was the dog with me when I found Lagneron." Kate informed them then walked off into the next room, it looked like a kitchen. The dogs stayed behind to check out Tony and Ziva. They sniffed over Ziva first then went to Tony. Arcal sniffed the agent's cr*tch first then snapped at the area, making Tony wince even though the husky was just teasing him. Muds sniffed Tony's legs for a moment then backed off, not interested.

"Now that dog is nice." He reached out his hand to pet Muds on the head. Before his hand reached it, Muds snapped her jaws at him and growled menacingly. Tony let out a shocked whimper noise and backed off, eyes wide in slight terror. Ziva laughed at him and walked off to find Kate. Tony eyed the dogs warily as he walked around them slowly, following Ziva.

Kate was making the dog's food; they hadn't been fed for at least over a day. She set the bowls down and the dogs came running. The two dogs gobbled down the food within seconds. "The pictures are in the living room." She nodded to a room with mostly wood furniture, most of which were antiques.

Tony nodded and walked off to look at the pictures. Ziva stayed in the kitchen, she wanted to ask Kate a few questions. "Why did you take Arcal out with you that night instead of Muds? Or both?"

"Arcal was in my room with me at the time. And he's my dog, I own him completely, and I take care of him in every way I can. Muds I take care of too, but my mom is willing to put the money out for Muds." When Ziva gave her a questioning look, Kate continued. "Muds is the guard dog. She can be vicious, if she doesn't trust you. Other than that she's really friendly."

Ziva laughed a little. "Well, she doesn't like Tony."

"Not surprised." The girl shrugged. "It's kind of an instinct to many things." She smiled.

"Haha, you guys are so funny." Tony said sarcastically from the living room. Apparently he had been listening to their conversation.

The Israeli agent changed the conversation. "Are the pictures the same?"

DiNozzo nodded. "Yep, all of them are exactly the same. Down to the names."

"So no hint to the former na-." She was cut off by a car door being slammed shut in the driveway.

Arcal and Muds ran to the window to see who it was. They jumped away, not interested in the person that was walking up to the door.

Tony motioned for Kate to move backwards and hide. He ignored the fact that she didn't budge, just stared at the front door and someone fiddled with the keys outside to unlock and open the door. Ziva and Tony drew out their guns, aiming them at the ground, and waited until the door to open before giving away that they were there.

As the door swung open, a middle-aged woman walked through, talking on her phone. She looked up at the agents, her mouth gaped open in surprise. Before any of the adults could ask anything, Kate spoke out from behind Tony. "Mom?" The girl tried to move in front of Tony but he held out his arm to keep her from going too close.


	10. Chapter 9

**Here's Chapter 9! Lots of info in this one...**

**Please Review!**

Chapter 9-

After recovering from the shock of having Kate's mother walk right up to them, figuratively speaking of course, the woman was keeping her distance, the agents immediately got to work. Ziva pulled out her phone and called Gibbs to tell him their finding while Tony took Kate aside to calm her down and get her not to attack her mother for disappearing.

"Gibbs." A husky voice grumbled from the other end of Ziva's phone.

"Gibbs," Ziva repeated her team leader's name. "We have Kate's mother. We were at the house and she just walked in. She did not expect us to be here."

"Well no, Ziva, she probably didn't expect to see two agents in her house with her daughter." Gibbs said sarcastically then sighed. "Where's DiNozzo?"

Ziva completely ignored his comment. "He is talking to Kate, probably to get her to calm down. Once her mother walked in, she practically exploded." She looked over to her co-worker and the young girl.

Tony was bent over to be face to face with Kate. "I get you're mad at her, I would be too, she disappeared for two days while you had witnessed a murder…" Tony tried to comfort her in a long, terrible description of what has happened the past two days.

Kate, glaring at her mother with no intention of looking to the agent in front of her, eventually cut Tony off. "I don't care that she wasn't around for the past few days. That makes no difference to me!" She hissed, eyes not wavering still. "I'm mad that she's lied about her life to me, that she's never told me anything and made me live practically all on my own. I know you guys suspect her of Lagneron's death and I get why, but…" She took a deep breath and finally looked at Tony. Kate had never said much about her hatred for her mother and didn't know how to explain it, especially to Tony. "She was never there, that's all."

DiNozzo nodded, understanding the annoyance of having no parents around as a kid. "I get it." He said, completely meaning it. "We do have to take your mother in for questioning. You can stay here if you want…" His voice trailed off as Ziva walked over to them, her conversation with Gibbs over. Tony raised his eyebrows at his co-worker for information.

"Gibbs said she can stay here, if she wishes." The former Mossad officer motioned with her hand to Kate. "We will take her mother in. A few agents are coming to monitor the house, from the outside." She spoke directly to Tony, aware of Kate looking on and listening to everything Ziva said, as though her life depended on it.

After a moment of silence, Kate walked off to her room and passed her mother on the way. She grumbled something as she did and when her mother tried to stop her from walking away – being clearly mad at what Kate said – the young girl kept walking. Arcal walked after Kate; seconds later the noise and vibration of a door being slammed reverberated throughout the house. The mother let out a loud, exasperated sigh and looked at the agents. "When can we go?" She asked.

Tony, who was slowly standing up straight, stared at the mother, thoughts whirring through his mind faster than Ziva's reflexes. "Now." He responded, hearing the security agents' cars pull into the driveway. DiNozzo opened the front door and let the woman go out first. Knowing it was pointless to do, he called out loudly to Kate. "Don't leave the house!" Before Tony had closed the door, Muds walked up to him to see what was going on. Hoping that the dog wasn't in a bad mood after being fed, the agent put out his hand to pet her. Muds immediately snapped at his hand. She would have bit it if he didn't pulled back and rush out the door.

~~~~At NCIS HQ~~~~

A woman with strawberry blond hair sat at a plain steel table, tapping her foot in annoyance. She stared at a mirror across the room from her.

Tony stood beyond the mirror in a dark observation room. He chuckled as he watched the distressed woman. "Now I see the resemblance." DiNozzo exclaimed to Ziva, who was standing right next to him.

"What are you talking about, Tony?"

"The resemblance between Kate and her mother."

"Took you long enough, they look exactly alike."

"No they do-…" Tony narrowed his eyes at Kate's mother. "Okay…maybe…but that wasn't what I meant. I meant the way she taps her foot. Kate does that too. Not in anxiety like her; just does it restlessly. Drives me insane, I try working and all I hear is tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…" He made clicking noises after each time he said tap.

"I know the feeling; you used to do it all the time." She hissed in irritation. "And if you start doing it again…I swear, I will break your feet."

Tony frowned. "I won't…especially because I never did ta-." His voice was cut off by a door opening and closing shut in the other room, the interrogation room. Both agents ended their conversation and turned to watch as their boss strode in and sat down across from Kate's mother.

"Amy Bergon." A loud thwack came from the table as the case folder was thrown down. "We've been looking for you for the past two days. Where've ya been?" Gibbs was calm. He never even cast a glance at Amy, just fiddled with the folder.

Amy sighed. "I've been working." She answered simply.

"Ha!" Tony scoffed. "That's a lie. If she was working she would be reachable."

"Shh!" Ziva said abruptly.

"Oh yeah? Where?" Gibbs continued with the conversation, finally looking up at Kate's mother.

"At my office in Georgetown. Working on final dress designs…" She shifted a little under Gibbs' stare. Somehow he knew she was lying, and it was unnerving.

"Doesn't explain why you weren't contactable, or why you didn't come home."

"My phone died, and I was busy."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, not believing a word coming out of the woman's mouth. If she was going to lie, he was going to lie right back. "Scared the h*ll out your daughter."

Amy scoffed. "Kate doesn't get scared, she gets angry, then bored."

"True, very true. She's strong willed, and independent. Isn't surprising when she has to grow up on her own." He scowled.

"It's not my fault I had to work!" She shouted.

"What exactly were you working on that kept you so busy?"

"Uh…dr-dress designs." Amy stuttered, a clear sign of lying. Gibbs just stared at her, his hard, steely cold stare. She knew he was sick of the lies and finally broke, not able to handle his stare like so many others. "Alright fine, I was at work. My uh, other job…as a…"

"As a what?" The silver haired leader snapped, making her jump.

"Well, it's complicated! I design dresses, but they're special. Each one has hidden pockets for weapons, guns, knives…" Bergon explained slowly.

"Sounds like your style, Ziva." DiNozzo chuckled from behind the glass. Ziva just rolled her eyes instead of answering him.

"That doesn't explain why you went missing." Gibbs pushed on.

"After Ethan died…" She started.

"You knew?" He shouted.

"Yes! I knew, his mother was a good friend of mine, I found out within the next twelve hours."

"You left as the murder happened though. Why did you leave?" After she hesitated to answer he repeated himself. "Why. Did. You. Leave?"

"Ethan was part of the company. So was his mother." Kate's mother continued when Gibbs rolled his eyes at the already known information. "The Navy found out about our project and suspected that it was treason and we were going to sell it to other nations. We weren't, we were going to give it to police departments for undercover missions. But most of them rejected it so we were forced to keep going in secret."

"Most?"

"A few…wanted to buy them. So we got Ethan to join the Navy so no one would suspect much if they were constantly talking. I don't know exactly what went down, but Ethan suspected that they were using it to go against the Navy. I don't know how, but Ethan must have declined the offer." Amy explained what she knew, guessing at some points.

"So you think they killed him for declining?" Gibbs got to thinking. In his mind he slowly formed everything that happened. "Who was Ethan working with?"

"His CO, Gerome Wilkerson." She answered simply. "Can I go home now?" Amy asked anxiously.

Gibbs stood up and answered, "No. You're staying here." Then he walked out of the interrogation room, meeting up with Tony and Ziva in the hallway. "DiNozzo, call Kate, tell her that you're coming to get her and bring her here. David, get McGee, we're getting Wilkerson."

"What are we gonna do with Wilkerson when you have him?" Tony asked and answered his own question from the look he got from his leader. "Get him to confess, right. Getting Kate, Boss." He walked off, pulling out his phone as he did. After dialing a number, the agent waited for Kate to pick up on the other end of the line. "Kate, good, you're still in the house. I'll be over in a few minutes, please don't move." Before she answered, Tony hung up and headed for the parking lot to get his car.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10-

Tony drove up Kate's driveway and set the car in park. He stepped out and looked around, seeing a guard agent a few yards from the driveway. "Hey, you, the girl still in the house?" DiNozzo called and proceeded to the door when the man just simply nodded. "Kate!" Tony called through the door. He jiggled the door handle, wondering if it was locked. It wasn't. Slowly, he opened the door. "Kate? You in here?" When Tony didn't get an answer he searched the whole house, not finding a trace of the young girl. "Crap..." He muttered and grabbed his phone to call Gibbs.

An hour later a black Ford Charger parked in the Bergon driveway. Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee stepped out of the car and went around back. The first thing they saw was Tony, arguing with one of the guarding agents.

"How the hell did she manage to slip past you? You're standing right outside the door!" DiNozzo shouted, not noticing his team.

"I-I d-don't know…I didn't hear anything. Well…besides a dog barking." The agent stuttered.

Tony rolled his eyes, saw the three staring at him, and walked over. "Hey Boss, you guys get Wilkerson?" He tried to avoid the subject of losing Kate, again.

"Not good DiNozzo, he wasn't at work, or at home." Gibbs said immediately. "How long has Kate been gone?"

"About half an hour."

"So she's had half an hour to run, into the woods, where she could use trees so we wouldn't be able to follow her." The team leader nodded. "You better find her, DiNozzo."

"How?" Tony exclaimed then shut his mouth. "Sorry, Boss…" He looked around when an idea suddenly hit him. DiNozzo grinned widely at the idea forming in his head.

"Speak, DiNozzo." Gibbs commanded Tony like he was a dog.

"Exactly Boss! Ziva, what happened both when we first came here, and when we left?"

Ziva shrugged, "Well you tried to get Kate to listen to you." She smirked slightly then continued when she got what Tony had in mind. "Muds snapped at you."

The senior field agent nodded, "But not when I showed up this time. When I searched the house, Kate was nowhere to be seen, and neither were Muds or Arcal."

"What's your point?" Gibbs asked, clearly agitated.

"She took the dogs! That's how we track her, by tracking the dogs' scents. Unless they can climb trees…I bet they can though. It would be so cool, like the dog in Karate Dog. Best dog movie ever…"

"What are you talking about Tony?" Ziva asked.

"Y'know, the 2004 movie Karate Dog starring Jon Voight, Simon Rex, and Jamie Pressly? It was so cool! The dog could kick, punch, talk, and…" He started rambling about the movie until Tony saw the glare Gibbs was giving him. "Back to the point, Boss, right. Well, uh, we could get search dogs to get the scent of Muds and Arcal from toys or something and track them down. She wouldn't have left her dogs out on their own, so she must be close."

The silver haired leader nodded. "Good. DiNozzo, get the toys. I'll get the search dogs. David, McGee, go search around for clues as to where to start looking for the scent." With those orders given out, Gibbs walked away to make a few calls.

Tony grinned at McGee, "Don't worry Probie, there's no poison ivy in this forest. Well there could be, I don't know…" He smirked and walked away to the house.

McGee rolled his eyes and headed to the forest behind Ziva.

Within a few minutes, five blood hounds and their handlers were at the house, being given instruction by Ziva as to where the dogs should start looking for a scent trail. They nodded and walked off to the woods. The team met together by the back door. Gibbs handed out orders once again. "David, DiNozzo, go out with the search team. Make sure Kate is back here within the next half hour." He nodded for them to go, which they did immediately. "McGee, we're going to search the mother's room for any info on her weapon dress company." The two agents walked inside.

Tony and Ziva jogged through the forest, side by side, trying to keep up with the search dogs. The dogs seemed to walk around randomly, not really having a scent. Once the group reached a stream and all the dogs sat down, not finding a trail anywhere. DiNozzo sighed and leaned against a tree. "That girl is good…"

Ziva stood by him. "Yes, very." She looked around, taking in every detail, and spotted a white blur by a clearing. "Tony, the crime scene was in that clearing over there, yes?"

Tony looked up and over to the clearing, "Yeah, I think so, why?"

"Unless you have giant white squirrels in America, I found Arcal." She crossed the stream and headed for the clearing, her partner right behind her.

Tony walked up to the clearing and saw Arcal and Muds lying by a bush. Once Muds saw Tony she got to her paws and growled deeply. Arcal just stared at Tony and Ziva as the growl got deeper and she advanced on Tony.

A voice came from behind Tony, making him jump and flinch away. "Relax Muds, he won't kill me yet." Kate jumped down to the ground from a tree that was on the edge of the clearing. She bent down and her dogs came running to her.

Tony looked down at Kate. "Why did you run off?" He asked, coming close to shouting. The girl ignored the agent's question and scratched her dogs' heads. "Well?" DiNozzo shouted.

"What did my mom say? She in trouble?" Kate answered his question with another one.

Ziva answered instead. "That she has a secret company. So no, she is not in trouble for anything yet…"

"Yet? Wonderful…you get the killer?"

Ziva opened her mouth to answer again but Tony cut her off. "No, too busy looking for you. Which is why I ask again, why did you run off?"

Kate sighed and looked at Ziva with a hint of sadness in her eyes. The former Mossad officer nodded and walked off. "I will go call off the search."

Tony watched Ziva curiously then looked back at Kate and raised his eyebrow at her questioningly.

"I needed to think, okay? From the tone of your voice I knew my mom was in trouble and no matter how much I hate her, I can't deal with her leaving." Kate explained.

"Because you love her?"

"No! If she gets arrested, then I get sent to a foster home or whatever and lose my dogs." She shut her eyes tight to hold back tears and hugged Muds and Arcal. "I could lose everything in my life, but I can't lose them…"

DiNozzo shut his eyes for a moment and nodded. "Alright…we have to get back to your house before Gibbs gets too mad." He looked around, not sure how to get back to her house. "Do you know…"

Kate immediately nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I know this forest like the back of my hand." She walked off with Muds and Arcal. Tony followed her, careful to avoid any thorn bushes.

When they got to the house, Kate immediately went inside with the dogs, leaving the team of four outside by the back door to talk.

~~~~At NCIS Headquarters (Abby's Lab) ~~~~

Abby stood in front of her computer, typing away at her keyboard and occasionally taking sips of her Caf-Pow. She turned to look at her doorway when she heard the familiar ding of the elevator. A young man with light brown hair like McGee, in light blue scrubs, walked into the lab. "Jimmy!" The forensic scientist exclaimed. "What brings you to my humble lab?"

Jimmy looked up at Abby and shrugged. "Well, Ducky said there was no need to be down in autopsy. No bodies besides Lagneron, and he turns out to be useless so I thought I'd come up here to talk."

"Yeah, same here. No forensics at the crime scene." She frowned for a moment then perked up. "Did you meet Kate?"

"No." The autopsy gremlin shook his head. "Glad too. I saw her once; she looked like she could kill someone if she needed to, kinda like Ziva."

"You think she's like Ziva? I think she's like Tony. She is _constantly_ picking on Tim. I feel bad, but it's funny, mostly because he overreacts, and that it's exactly what Tony would do." She took a breath from talking. Jimmy opened his mouth to say something but Abby started talking against. "The weird thing is that she is so smart! Like, creepy smart, like Gibbs! She can also sneak up on people. She's cute, devious, and has a funky side." She smiled, done talking about Kate for now.

Jimmy finally spoke up, "So you like her?" He chuckled a little when the scientist nodded.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11-

Back at the NCIS headquarters, the whole team sat at their desks while Kate stood behind Tony, leaning against a small bulletin board. "So…what are we waiting for?" The young girl asked.

Tony took a deep breath. "Any signs of where Wilkerson may be."

"You call him?"

"Well _yeah_. He didn't pick up." said DiNozzo sarcastically then rolled his eyes.

Kate stuck her tongue out at him and Ziva laughed a little.

Gibbs spoke up eventually. "McGee, go down to Abby's lab and help her trace any electronic use of Wilkerson."

"On it, Boss." McGee stood up and walked to the elevator. Kate walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair.

"Is my mom still in the interrogation room?" She called out openly, not caring ho answered.

"Yes." Gibbs said. "No, you can't see or talk to her."

"Wasn't gonna ask to. Hey, you guys could use luring to bring in Wilkerson."

"With what?" Tony asked. "He already killed Lagneron, what could possibly bring him in?"

"A chance to close the deal." Ziva said. "Lagneron was just the middle man, it was her mother who was making the designs, and selling them. We can use Amy Bergon to bring him in."

"Her mother is not allowed out of interrogation. I don't care if it will help us get Wilkerson or not." The team leader came close to shouting.

"I'm with Gibbs. My mother would just scr*w everything up. Probably would just disappear like usual." Kate said. She started to mimic her mother's voice, doing it practically perfectly. "I'm going out for most of the night-."

Tony cut her off. "That's it! You can do her voice, Kate." He exclaimed.

"We call Wilkerson; Kate can leave a message, sounding like her mother, saying that she would like to close the deal. But where would we tell him to meet us?" Ziva said.

"Her house." DiNozzo indicated to Kate.

"Alright, I need my mom's phone." The girl shrugged.

"It's down in Abby's lab. DiNozzo, call McGee, tell him to bring the phone and the earwigs down to the garage. We'll meet up with him there." The four people stood up, two of them grabbing their gear before they all headed to the elevator and down to the garage.

~~~~At Kate's House~~~~

Kate sat on the counter in the kitchen, her dogs lying at her feet. "Hey, when is he supposed to be coming?" She asked into a device on her wrist.

Tony's voice came in through the earwig she had. "In a few minutes, now put the dogs in your room."

"Alright." She whistled at her dogs. "Go lay down." Arcal and Muds got up and walked to her room. Kate closed her door only slightly so they could get out if needed; then headed back to the kitchen and waited for Wilkerson to show up.

Tony and Ziva patrolled around back while McGee waited inside, in the mother's room. Gibbs hid behind a bush near the driveway, waiting for a sign of Wilkerson, in car or on foot. He saw a car park a few houses down, in the street, and a middle-aged, fit man in a light brown marine uniform got out and started walking to the house. The man acted normal as he walked, making sure not to draw any attention.

"He's here." Gibbs muttered into his wrist communication device. "DiNozzo, David, stand by the back door, be ready to stop if he tries to run. McGee, stand by." All of them replied with an "Okay Boss." Then all talking between the team ended.

Wilkerson walked up to the door and knocked. Kate answered, impersonating her mother, "Door's open!" She walked into the next room so he didn't see her and run. He opened the door gingerly and stepped into the house.

"Amy?" He called out.

"In here!" Kate sat in a chair, it's back to the doorway. She was hidden perfectly in it, the only thing that showed were her shoes. So if Wilkerson decided to look down, he would realize that it wasn't Amy Bergon, but someone else.

Wilkerson stood in the doorway. "I understand you still want to make the deal? Five dress designs and two tuxedo designs for one million dollars."

Kate paused for a second, thinking. "Yes." She said. "The deal's still on."

Gibbs walked over to the front door and spoke to Kate through the earwig. "Whenever you're ready, we're here, ready."

"Good, when shall we make the exchange?" Wilkerson asked.

Kate smiled deviously. "Oh, I was thinking in a few days. I just have to ask…" She switched back to her normal voice. "What compelled you to kill Lagneron? The deal that important to you?" She turned around in the chair to face him.

His eyes grew wide in shock. "Wh-who are you? Where is Amy?" Wilkerson demanded and walked towards Kate. The shock in his eyes had turned to anger.

Kate frowned a little. "McGee!" She called, scared at what Wilkerson might do to her.

McGee came bursting into the room, and Gibbs soon after. "Federal agents! Put your hands up where we can see them!" The team leader shouted. Tony and Ziva came in a moment later.

Wilkerson looked around at the five people. "Wh-what's happening?" He stammered.

DiNozzo walked up behind him and cuffed his hands behind his back. "You're under arrest for the murder of Ethan Lagneron." He started reading the marine his rights while pushing him out the door.

Kate smiled a little and whistled. Arcal and Muds came running into the room and stood at Kate's side, wagging their tails ferociously. "Good puppies. Thank you for staying calm." She cooed at them and scratched their heads.

Gibbs looked at Kate and chuckled softly. "Good job there. You really had him convinced."

The girl smiled widely at the praise and nodded in appreciation.

**The next chapter is the final chapter! Please R&R!**


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12-

Tony sat at his desk, typing up his case report. Diagonal from him, sitting at Gibbs' desk, was Kate, playing games on the computer. All of a sudden there came a loud explosion sound, making Tony jump. "Kate! I'm trying to work!" He shouted at her.

"It's a miracle!" The girl laughed.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Just stop making all the noise, will ya?"

"You have no proof that I made any noise." Kate smirked. The senior field agent looked over at her, narrowed his eyes, and glared at her. "Gibbs does it better." She muttered.

"What are you talking about? I have no idea what you're talking about."

The young girl laughed and stood up. She walked to the center of the squadroom. "You try to impersonate Gibbs a lot, and fail, a lot." Kate laughed. "Why bother?"

Tony stood up and walked over to her until he was towering over her. "Because _Kate_, Leeroy Jethro Gibbs is the best of the best. If you can't be him, then you have to be like him. Got it?"

Kate looked around and saw Gibbs walking towards them slowly. She smiled slightly. "But you are nothing like him; you can't even get the glare right!"

Tony glared at her again; eyes slightly narrowed and jaw cocked slightly. His face grew slightly confused when all Kate did was grin widely. He suddenly thought of something. "Hey Boss. How's it going?" DiNozzo said quickly.

"DiNozzo." Came the team leader's voice from behind his agent. "What are you doing?" Gibbs asked when Tony flinched.

"Expected a head slap…Boss." Tony said slowly and sighed quietly with relief when he saw his boss walk away from him and to the big desk.

"You," Gibbs pointed to Kate then motioned for her to come over. "Come here, he has to work."

Kate frowned and walked to Gibbs side. She laughed softly a moment later at something the team leader whispered in her ear. Tony watched them suspiciously but sat back down at his desk to get back to typing. He looked up as Kate walked over to his desk. "What do you want?" He asked.

She shrugged, "Nothing, why?"

"Because Gibbs told you to be over ther-." His sentence was cut off by a slap to the back of the head. "Really? Come on, Boss! Not from her! She'll get too used to it!" Tony exclaimed.

Kate laughed and looked at his computer screen. "So the case is closed?" She asked, gulping a little.

"Uh, yeah, it is." Tony closed down the document and looked at Kate.

"What did Willerson say?"

DiNozzo glanced at Gibbs, who was walking away, leaving DiNozzo to tell Kate on his own. "He confessed that he killed Lagneron that night and that him and your mother were making a deal but not for just simple sales. They wanted to sell them worldwide. They were going to commit treason." He explained in a husky whisper so no one around could hear except her.

"That it? Won't that only get her a few years?" Kate asked.

"Treason would get her only a few months, but…Willerson didn't kill Lagneron on his own." Tony said softly and watched the realization spread over Kate's face. "Lagneron wanted to tell someone in the navy. He wasn't comfortable with committing treason. Your mother ordered Willerson to kill Lagneron in order to keep the deal going." He sighed deeply. "She's going away for life for second degree murder."

"I have to go to a foster home?" Was all she asked as the young girl stared at the ground, trying to take it all in.

"Probably, and, before you ask, no foster home around takes in dogs too. Do you know of any relatives?"

"No, my mom kept away from her side and…well, I didn't know my father, so…no, I know no relatives. Is there…" She took a deep breath. "Is there a pound near a foster home? Maybe I could visit them or…just keep them alive if no one wants them." Kate asked frantically.

"Not that we found. But there may be another choice…you could…stay with one of the team…" Tony suggested hesitantly.

The young girl looked up at him. Just from one look you could tell she was trying seriously hard not to cry. "You want me to stay…with you?" The words came out slowly.

"Well, not with me necessarily…but with someone on the team." He muttered awkwardly.

Kate smiled a little. "You are such a softy, Tony."

"I am not!"

"Yeah, whatever. Sure you're not." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

Tony shook his head but couldn't help but chuckle. "You know, you are a very strange little girl, Kate. With random bursts of different personalities and emotions."

The girl just shrugged and responded simply. "Sometimes, you have to go through several layers of a person to find their true self."

"Okay…I just have one question. Your mother says you don't get scared, just angry then bored."

"Yeah…?"

"Tell me the truth; were you scared during this case?"

Kate thought about his question for a minute then answered, "Thank you, for letting me keep my dogs…Tony." She smiled lightly.

Tony looked at her with a slightly confused expression then grinned widely. "No problem. Besides, I've always wanted a guard dog." He laughed.

"And you can take Arcal out to help you get girls. He'll enjoy the attention. Just don't overtire him." Kate smirked at him.

**So, this is the final chapter of this story. I will be making another.**

**For this ending, I had a vote on another website. If you would like to see an alternate ending of your choice of what happens to Kate and such, then in a review, just ask! I'll make a new story for it and close it after two weeks of no new ideas. For my new story, I will be using this ending.**

**Remember: Alternate endings will only be for CHAPTER 12!**

**Thank you for all the alerts and reviews! Glad you're reading my story!**


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